WTH?? Nina viral free after a week at NIH with no experimental therapies administered? I call BS on this. Lots more than just supportive treatment was administered. And of course the obligatory photo-op.
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Dallas nurse Nina Pham, who was infected with the Ebola virus while treating Thomas Duncan, is now free of the deadly virus.
Pham will now be headed back to North Texas from Maryland where she had been receiving treatment at the National Institutes of Health facility in Bethesda.
Before she comes home, Pham met with President Obama in the Oval Office, where she received a hearty hug.
CBS 11 talked to Pham’s dad about the news, who said his daughter may be coming home to North Texas as early as today.
“I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today,” said Pham, while surrounded by her mother, her sister and NIH doctors at a Friday morning news conference. “I am on my way back to recovery, even as I reflect on how many others who have not been so fortunate.”
Pham thanked God, her family, friends, and all the people on the medical teams that took care of her in Texas and Maryland. “I would especially like to thank Dr. Kent Brantly for the selfless act of donating plasma to me,” said Pham.
She also thanked everyone for their prayers and offered her own to her colleague Amber Vinson and Dr. Craig Spencer, who is being treated for the disease in New York.
“I hope that people understand that this illness and this whole experience has been very stressful and challenging for me and for my family. Although I no longer have Ebola, I know that it may be awhile before I have my strength back. So with gratitude and respect for everyone’s concern, I ask for my privacy and for my family’s privacy to be respected, as I return to Texas and try to get back to a normal life and reunite with my dog Bentley,” she said with a huge smile.
According to a statement released by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins that reunion will come very soon. “Although Bentley remains under quarantine until the end of the month, Nina will be able to visit, hold and play with him tomorrow. I know that will be good for both of them.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the NIH, gave Pham a hug and told reporters that five consecutive tests showed no virus left in her blood. Five tests is way beyond the norm, he stressed, but his team did extra testing because the NIH is a research hospital.
“She is cured of Ebola, let’s get that clear,” Fauci said.
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas released the following statement about Pham’s recovery:
“The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas family is thrilled that Nina Pham is Ebola-free and on her way home. Her colleagues and friends eagerly look forward to welcoming her back. Her courage and spirit, first in treating a critically ill Ebola patient and then in winning her own battle against the disease, has truly inspired all of us.”
The second nurse, Amber Vinson, is being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, which on Friday issued a statement saying she “is making good progress” and that tests no longer detect virus in her blood. But Emory said it had no discharge date for Vinson yet, as she continues to receive supportive care. Vinson’s family issued a statement Wednesday evening, which said she was regaining her strength and doctors were no longer able to detect the virus in her body.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/24/dalla...-hospital/
.....
In advance of Pham's arrival at NIH last week, Fauci, one of the most highly respected immunologists in the world, announced he would be her admitting physician.
On Friday, while wearing the colors of Pham's nursing school, Texas Christian, Fauci called her a "courageous and lovely person," saying that she also represents the nurses and healthcare workers who put themselves on the line caring for sick patients.
He said they did not administer any experimental drugs to Pham during her treatment at NIH.
Fauci said she was doing well in Texas, and continued to do well at NIH. "We both supported her, so I can't pinpoint in one patient, what was the turning point," he said.
Fauci said it was not possible to pinpoint whether Brantley's donation of plasma was critical in her recovery and that more research is needed.
He said Pham's youth and general health were likely other factors that likely helped, as was the fact that she entered a hospital that was able to give her intensive care early.
Presby? 
[b]Oh I see the storm coming on this.... "Why wasnt Duncan taken to NIH/Emory? You let him die... [/b]
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/...06212.html
![[Image: calendar-ebola9.jpg]](http://media.nbcwashington.com/images/629*745/calendar-ebola9.jpg)
/
For all the Ebola Hype, Please consider the nurses are heros
The worst thing we can do is treat the nurses like crap and drag their names through the mud after going through this...
